


shorthand

by m_feys



Series: I gotta get out (and make this better) [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Teasing, i put them all together in a series its gotten real now, ianto and lois are the kind of friends who pass notes in code to each other, part of my au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23983726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_feys/pseuds/m_feys
Summary: She freezes as she sees a note on her desk. The mostly blank paper stands out among the bright busy colors of all the travel brochures laid out across the surface. She picks up the stray piece of lined notebook paper.It's a note, written in shorthand.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones (background), Lois Habiba & Ianto Jones, Lois Habiba/Toshiko Sato (pre-relationship)
Series: I gotta get out (and make this better) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740862
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	shorthand

**Author's Note:**

> i love writing lois, i hope you enjoy what ive done with her

The bolt comes unlocked with a click as she turns the key. She steps into the door, pushing it closed behind her, setting the box of pastries down, and moving to press the button on the inside of the desk. She freezes though as she sees a note on her desk. The mostly blank paper stands out among the bright busy colors of all the travel brochures laid out across the surface. She picks up the stray piece of lined notebook paper.

It's a note, written in shorthand.

 _'Please do not transfer any calls to Jack today,'_ is all it says, no signature or further instructions. Just a simple request. She jumps as the door opens behind her and Tosh is the one to step inside.

"Good morning," she greets, as she steps inside but something about Lois's expression must put her off. The woman glances up at her, brows raised, "you ok?" She asks as she tucks her access card back into her bag. Lois still didn't have one of those and had to use the physical key. 

She nods quickly, "Of course," she says, keeping the note out of sight, somehow it feels private. "Yes, good morning," she returns the sentiment with a smile, she likes Tosh. 

"Are those for us?" She says, smiling again as her eyes catch on the pastries.

"Yes," she responds quickly, dropping the note back on the desk behind her and twisting to hold the box out for her. 

"Thought I'd save Ianto the trouble of having to get something once everyone arrives," she offers simply.

Toshiko's smile brightens at that and Lois thinks she could light up a room with that look.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it," she tells her, "I appreciate it too," Tosh confides in her, lowering her voice as if she's letting her in on a secret. Butterflies work themselves into a frenzy in her chest at her tone. She really _really_ likes Toshiko.

"I could take them down for you if you'd like, save you the trip?" She offers mildly and Lois finds herself inexplicably breathless.

"Yes, um, yes, that would be nice," she manages the words and then Toshiko is taking the box from her hands with a smile.

Lois can only stare as she makes to leave but is startled again when Toshiko pauses and turns back.

"You should get one for yourself before I take them down," Tosh speaks, holding the box out for her to peruse.

"Oh, right. Thanks!" She says, quickly lifting the lid and removing the first thing she can get her fingers on. It turns out to be a cheese danish, not her favorite but she didn't mind so long as Toshiko didn't stay any longer to watch her make a fool of herself.

"And come by my desk later if you have a chance, I have something to show you," Tosh adds before turning to get into the elevator. Lois means to reply with some form of confirmation but she's already descending by the time she has control over her mouth again.

She sighs and sits, already wishing she had an excuse to run down there right now, see what Toshiko wanted to show /her/ and drink in everything she had to say. Her voice was so lovely. She tells herself to play it cool and wait a while before she heads down. The note is forgotten about until she's halfway through her danish and she spins around in her chair to see it still there on her desk.

Right, the mystery of the note. She guesses it’s from Ianto, considering he's the most likely of the team to use shorthand, he'd had the same job as her, after all. She's a bit surprised by the notion, though, she understands he's their main archivist, but she's also seen him gun-toting and steel-faced heading into the field. It seems such a far cry from the unassuming office worker he plays here at the hub. Not that anything about the hub lends itself to being unassuming. That and the note simply refers to Captain Harkness as 'Jack'. Most of the time they're working, Ianto calls him ‘sir’. So, maybe Gwen could have left it instead? But she also remembers his low voice in a cell down the hall calling out that name as they hauled one Captain Jack Harkness into the holding cells with them.

Why is he asking her not to transfer him any calls? Is he out today? It seems like the note would have said if that were the case, not specifically to keep from transferring his calls. She would likely need to run papers down for him to sign later so she could get some clue as to what this was about then.

* * *

She steps out of the cog door, eyes already set on Toshiko's work station, with her file in hand and her excuse on her tongue. Her hope dies quickly as she hears boots pounding across the upper level to her left.

"Lois!" Jack calls down to her, voice demanding an answer, "A word?"

She cringes inwardly, diverting course to head up the steps and meet him where he was holding the door to his office open for her. She stepped inside quickly, standing uncomfortably in front of his desk while he moved past her to take his seat. He gestured for her to follow suit. She sat down stiffly, clutching the paperwork to her chest. This office is still barren, as is most of the main floor of the Hub what with it being newly rebuilt, The lower levels and the garage being the only things left untouched by the explosion. There's one mostly empty shelf off to the side, a safe that's very clearly taken some blast damage but is still usable, and the two cheap plastic chairs in front of his nice wooden desk, she doesn't find this disparity to be making this experience any more comfortable.

"Relax, you're not in trouble," he informs her gruffly, though his expression didn’t ease at all. The line of his mouth was hard and there were bags beneath his eyes. More than anything he just looked _exhausted_. She hadn't known he could look like he was in anything other than perfect health.

"Yes, sir," she answered and he rolled his eyes in response. For someone who regularly introduced himself as a 'Captain,' he hardly seemed to care about propriety.

"Why haven't I gotten any calls today?" He questions her sharply as if he can sense that it's her fault. She begins to doubt his claim that she wasn't in trouble.

"You just haven't had any, sir," she tells him. It's practically second nature to lie for a coworker rather than be truthful with the boss.

"We haven't gotten any calls?" He asks her flatly, clearly unimpressed.

"We haven't gotten any calls that needed you, sir. I resolved the calls we've gotten myself," she clarifies, voice held calm. Everything she’s done for Torchwood has certainly steeled her nerves.

He stares her down for a long moment and it's all she can do not to fidget.

"Maybe you should take it as a stroke of luck, sir," she suggests pointedly then, not able to stand the silence any longer, "after all, not everyone who calls is exactly _polite_." She'd already had a few people yelling at her over the phone for telling them Jack Harkness couldn't answer their call.

He seems to soften after she says this, posture relaxing and a weak smile lifting his lips. "You're right, Lois,” he sighs, “thank you. Feel free to send a few of 'em to me if they're giving you too much trouble," he offers.

She finds herself smiling genuinely at the sentiment though she knows she won't take him up on the offer, at least not today. "I'll keep it in mind, Captain, thank you."

"Alright, alright, you're dismissed," he says, spirit seeming a little lighter now. She nods to him and makes for the door. "You're free to go make moon eyes at Tosh all you'd like," he adds, voice sly and her step falters at the words, she whips her head back to stare at him with wide, panicked eyes.

He's smiling cooly at her when she does, "Don't worry, I won't tell her," he adds with a wink and she can only blink at him.

"Though," he says thoughtfully, "you might ought to tell her yourself, or she'll keep on thinking you're just being nice."

"Due respect, sir," she says sharply, curling her arms around the papers in her arms, facing towards him as if the files are a shield. "That's none of your business," she says, her recalcitrant feelings are kept to an undertone, not wanting to test his patience but also unwilling to let this go unchallenged.

He quirks one eyebrow at her, "I invest myself in my employee's personal lives, makes me a better boss. But besides that, I didn't have to go snooping. You're not exactly subtle," he advises her in a low voice.

She bites her lip, annoyed now, and tempted to head back upstairs and send every call she gets through to him.

"Everyone knows then?" She asks softly. keeping her anger under control.

"Gwen's totally oblivious to that sort of thing, you're safe there. Martha's too keen to miss it but she's not as nosey as me. Sorry for that," he smiles, not looking sorry at all. "and Ianto definitely knows,” he says frankly, “Ianto knows everything," he sing-songs like it's some kind of inside joke.

"Well, I'm glad you're in a better mood now, Captain," she tells him shortly, rightfully annoyed that it came at her expense.

His smile falls a bit, he looks so tired even when he smiles. "Aw, c'mon, Lois," he's practically whining, "it's not like the rest of us are any better off. Listen, don't tell Ianto I told you this, but he got his job here by flirting with me until I agreed to give him one," he says, grin returning in full force, though somehow it looks almost strained. Her face slackens in surprise. She tries to imagine it, quiet, formal Ianto Jones flirting with this man to get a job. Of course, she had heard Harkness and Jones flirting with one another before, it happened too often to disregard, even if you wanted to, and she preferred to keep to herself at first. But she'd never imagined Ianto himself might have been the one to initiate it, especially with Captain Harkness's reputation.

He went on, "believe me, none of us have a leg to stand on if we want to judge you. Not even Tosh," he adds kindly, then considers it, "especially not Tosh," he decides, wrinkling his nose.

She lets out a breath trying to relax her shoulders, Captain Harkness is always an overwhelming presence, but he's not cruel. She nods silently in acceptance.

His smile lights with something mischievous, like he's still trying to erase that look of dead exhaustion as he informs her, voice low, "and I can tell you, she has been with a woman before."

She blinks at him, "th-thanks," she says awkwardly, it is reassuring to know she has some chance, even having to learn it in this context.

"Don't mention it," he tells her, then stops himself, "actually, do mention it, you can gossip all you want with me, I'm great at keeping secrets," he assures her lightly, he's still trying to put her at ease.

She lets a laugh bubble up at that, the idea of gossiping with her boss, he _is_ a strange one.

He motions towards the door with a jerk of his chin, face still amenable and friendly, even with the hollow look behind his eyes. She opens the door and as soon as she does he calls after her, so very loudly, "Go get 'em, tiger!" Loud enough to echo around all the open space of the hub.

She winces at the sound, mortified, with heat rising in her face. She knows the three women on the level below have glanced up in curiosity at the outburst. He really is a piece of work, she decides as she hurries away from the door and lets it swing shut to muffle the sound of his laughter behind her.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Toshiko asks once she reaches her desk with a confused grin pulling at her lips. The other two have already gone back to their own tasks, Lois is thankful for it.

"Oh, Captain Harkness is in a mood," she tells her mildly, hoping her mortification isn't as obvious as her pining apparently was.

At that Tosh's smile softens into fond amusement. "You'll have to excuse him, he only teases because he likes you," Toshiko assures her. "Did you have a pleasant talk at least? He sounds like he's feeling better than this morning," she observes, tilting her head up to glance at the glass walls of his office. He was out of sight from this angle, likely still sitting at his desk.

Lois considers how she should answer, "yes, we did," she agrees softly and finds that it's true.

"Good," Toshiko smiles at her brightly.

"What was it you wanted to show me?" Lois segues, setting her files down on the edge of the desk and shifting closer behind her chair.

"Someone needs to teach you how to use the CCTV scanner and I'm the one who knows it best," she says, sliding down from her chair now, "here," she offers, gesturing for her to sit. Toshiko punches a few quick commands into the keyboard and saves whatever she had been doing before this. Lois keeps still and tries to ignore her heart pounding when Toshiko's leg brushes her knee.

"This icon here is where you can open it from the desktop." Lois follows her direction, taking hold of the mouse and double-clicking.

"When you're searching a particular area you'll want to enter an address, but you can jump from camera to camera by using the map or entering the next serial code for each camera." She diligently listens to Toshiko explain and tries her best to ignore the way her thigh will press against Lois's leg when she leans over to point something out on the screen.

By the time they're done she's at least confident in the basics, even if she may have been slightly distracted during the lesson.

They've all been doing this in the months since she started, giving her more and more to master as time goes on. First, it was the main tenets of her job, then the things she needed in case of emergencies and now she was learning everything that would help with general support. Anything worth knowing, really, about the archives, the security, the pterodactyl. She’d learned about rift monitoring and how to scan through police reports early on.

"I'll let you go now, don't want to overload you with information,"

Lois knows she could easily listen to this woman talk for hours on end, but she only nods and moves out of the chair. She's not certain she has full control of her vocal cords at the moment.

"Lois!" Tosh calls back her attention just as she's walking away. She spins back around.

"Yes?" She questions breathlessly.

"You forgot your file," Toshiko tells her, smiling gently. She rushes back to get the file, face burning as she does.

With the file in hand now she pauses to glance up at the woman, glasses back in place, and diligently typing some sort of code.

"Um, Toshiko?" She prompts quietly.

She starts at the sound of her name turning towards Lois quickly, "Yes?"

"If I..." she starts hesitantly, "have any questions, is it alright if I come to you?"

The corners of her mouth curl delightedly when she smiles, "of course!"

* * *

Lois finally heads down to the archives now, the original excuse for coming down into the hub. The paperwork she'd brought to file wasn't urgent, it was just her ticket to see what Toshiko had to show her.

Ianto is in the archives once she reaches the lower level, he has a stack of files set aside and is currently relabeling one of them. He glances up to acknowledge her presence before focusing back down on his work.

"You can just set that down if you'd like, I'll file it," he offers, he had stopped that, for a while, knowing she would sit down next to him to file it away herself, but this time he suggests it again.

She steps closer, watching him curiously.

"That was your note?" She asks.

He stops and looks to her this time, rather than just a short glance. She'd only seen him once this morning, he'd barely been more than a passing shadow as he stepped out of the lift to hand off her coffee. She'd been on call at the time and hadn't been able to ask him about it.

"What do you mean?" He asks though she suspects he knows exactly what she's asking about.

"The one in shorthand on my desk this morning," she tells him, not about to let this go just because he doesn't want to answer. The act he puts on to avoid answering does get frustrating at times. 

He blinks, she thinks he might be attempting to find some other way out of this, then, "oh, yes. That was me," he says simply, turning back towards his work, looking like he's desperate for something to busy his hands with.

"Does anyone else in Torchwood even know shorthand?" She asks, not even really expecting him to answer.

His lips quirk, "no, none of them. I translated what you wrote when you were... wearing the contacts," he finishes the sentence awkwardly seeming to have realized he'd brought up a potentially painful memory.

She nods, imagining him serving as her voice for the rest of Torchwood. She settles in beside him as she usually does when she comes down to file something. Reaching for a pen and one of the labels, he slides them within her reach without having to look up from his work.

"Why did you ask me to?" She wonders, she always lets curiosity get the best of her.

He's quiet for a long moment and she doesn't expect him to answer.

"He's been... on edge... lately," he starts to speak and she looks up at the sound of his voice, watching him in profile now as his hands go still over the file he'd been working on. "I thought rude words from some stiff neck might send him over it," Ianto is frank, he isn't always. But it’s always refreshing, and a little jarring, when he is.

"Thank you," he says, suddenly soft and genuine, "and I'm sorry, I know those people can be a pain. I'll head back up when we're done here and you can transfer them to me if they get to be a handful." She looks at him, eyes narrowing.

"How do you even know I actually did it?" She demands, suddenly tired of hearing assumptions about herself, no matter how correct they might be, and feeling rather contrary for it, "you've been down here all day."

He looks at her, raising his eyebrows, "you did though, didn't you?" He asks pointedly.

She frowns slightly before relenting and nodding her head in acquiescence, "yeah, I did," she confirms reluctantly and turns back to her work.

He nods too, smiling slightly in her periphery, "I knew because you're just that sort of person, Lois."

"What?" She asks, her voice soft and sarcastic, "a _push-over?"_

"Kind," he answers easily, "a kind person."

She jerks her gaze back up to him surprised by the words, but he's back to focusing solely on his work so she does too.

"Thanks," he says again into the near silence.

"You're welcome," she accepts this time.

**Author's Note:**

> lois is a lesbian, I've decided. and she and ianto are good friends who give each other notes in shorthand and this is the start of that.
> 
> not totally sure when this is set but i THINK it's between 'i would tell you that i loved you' and 'below the line of my heart' idk. timelines are confusing, i just write stuff and hope it makes sense
> 
> comments are very appreciated <3 (even if i might not reply)


End file.
